When President Bush says he's prepared to stay in Iraq "until the job is done," those poor Iraqis have no idea just how long he means. But the Lakotas do. The United States government has been "stabilizing" the Great Sioux Nation and promoting democracy for 139 years.

Interestingly enough, the thirty-eight large and medium-sized American facilities spread around the globe in 2005 -- mostly air and naval bases for our bombers and fleets -- almost exactly equals Britain's thirty-six naval bases and army garrisons at its imperial zenith in 1898. The Roman Empire at its height in 117 AD required thirty-seven major bases to police its realm from Britannia to Egypt, from Hispania to Armenia. Perhaps the optimum number of major citadels and fortresses for an impe